On the Devil's Court

On The Devil's Court Joe Faust is a character that is easy to relate to. He is a young man trying to fit in. His parents are both gifted; his father a Doctor and his mother an artist. Just before the beginning of his senior year, the family moved from Boston Massachusetts to Seattle Washington. Soon after arriving, his parents tell him that they want him to attend a private school . Not after the move, Joe makes friends with Ross. Ross is a flashy and talented basketball player attending a public school, Loyal High School. Joe is able to convince his parents to allow him to attend the public school but soon after Joe finds himself in trouble after a night out drinking with Ross. He arrives home in a cop car and his parents forbid him from hanging out with Ross and force him to attend the local private school, Eastside. Once he starts attending Eastside, and after trying out for the basketball team, he is told that he won’t have a spot on the varsity team but instead, coach Raible informs him that he can play on the JV team. This upsets Joe. Joe later finds an abandoned gym where he starts to practice. This gym was dark and the ball would roll back to him after his shots. Joe finds himself making a pack with the devil saying: “Give me a full season. Give me 24 games of this power, and my soul is yours.” That was the beginning of his perfect basketball season. Game after game, Joe becomes a standout athlete breaking all kinds of records. He is getting a lot of attention but just when things were going great, things start to go bad. Joe is injured and unable to play the last games, and at the same time his father becomes ill and is hospitalized. Joe is also recruited by a college scout and Joe soon starts to wonder when his luck is going to start running out and when and or how he will have to pay the price. Joe soon realizes that having a perfect season is less important than having the people you love in your life. In retrospect Joe realizes that he made a grave mistake, and the bargain he made with the devil was not worth it.

As a teacher I love that! This one has 8th grade boys intrigued, interested, and in line to read it. I think Mr. Deuker hit a homerun (not to mix metaphors) with this title. With a touch of the supernatural, sports, and family issues as a focus for the title, this book appeals to many.

I'm a fan of Deuker's works, and so I was thrilled to see this one on sale. It's the classic Faust story, but set in a realistic, contemporary world that's easy to relate to.

I cannot tell you that I've read this book myself; only that I've had to order three copies thus far because my middle school boys have read the cover off this book! I'm certain I'll be ordering another copy or two in the future.

My 13 year old son likes these types of books.

Great book

Was as described and arrived on time.

Thanks!

My 15-year old enjoyed it...because the chapters are short! It has lots of American basketball terms, but there is a thought-provoking story in there too.